Chapter 10: Slide
When the world's on fire you kiss me
and you say it will be all right
The more I try to resist you,
the more I seem to slide,
into the fire.
I woke up to a loud ringing noise. I felt Danny moving next to me; I barely had my eyes open when it stopped, hearing him mutter a tired hello, sounding as like he just woke up.
He was sitting up, beside me, looking very unpleased with who was calling. "Jazz? Do you have any idea what time it is?" He grumbled.
I heard a muffled response from the phone; Danny rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay. What is it?"
His eyes widened slightly at whatever Jazz was telling him. "Okay, I'm at Tuck's house..." He paused, seemed to be remembering what exactly happened last night. "Oh, and I have to tell you some stuff too."
It didn't take super hearing to hear a loud groan from Jazz's end followed by what seemed to be Jazz lecturing Danny.
He looked over at me, not seeming to be bothered by the loud ranting coming from the phone, not even really paying attention. "What's Tucker's address again?"
"325 Malberry Street," I answered, my voice still raspy with sleep.
Danny relayed the information to Jazz.
He nodded. "Okay, we will be waiting."
He closed his cell phone. Then, turned his attention towards me, but I could tell he was thinking about something else. Whatever Jazz said must have been pretty worrying. "Sorry about that," he smiled sheepishly.
I looked over at the clock; it was 10:07. I wasn't really surprised. All of us were up pretty late last night. "It's okay; we probably should start getting up anyway," I said, looking back at Danny. To my relief, he was looking much better. The color returned to his face, and he seemed to be moving easily. "So, why did Jazz call?"
"She says that something big is happening at Fenton Works, and she needed to talk to us right away," Danny said, starting to get up from his position. He stuck out a hand, helping me up from the couch. "She's gonna be here in ten minutes."
I looked at his blood-caked bandages and dirty jeans, knowing fully well that if Jazz were to see him like this, there would be no escaping her. "You better take a shower first, before she comes."
Danny looked down at himself, coming to the same conclusion I did. "Man, Jazz'll freak."
He followed me up the stairs; I slipped into Tucker's room getting a clean shirt and jeans for Danny. Luckily, they were about the same height and size. I returned, putting the clothes in his hands and pointing him to the bathroom. "You go, and I'll wake up Tucker and fill him in."
Danny nodded with sarcastic smile, saluting me as he turned towards the bathroom.
I stood there for a second by the doorway, admiring the view of his backside, admiring the prowess in his walk, but quickly shook my head, turning towards the door, placing my eyes firmly ahead of me.
I walked into Tucker's room, seeing his sleeping form in the bed. He was passed out, PDA in his limp hand, his glasses askew.
I knew there wasn't really any tender way of waking him up, so I just shook his shoulder. "Tucker," I said.
After the third Tucker and harder shove, he finally woke up with a loud groan. "What?"
I smiled, all of us were definitely not morning people.
Tucker looked up at me, his eyes focusing more. He sat up, righting his glasses.
"Jazz is coming over," I said.
His expression turned quizzical. "Jazz Fenton? Why?"
"She says something is happening at Fenton Works, and she needs to talk to Danny," I said.
"Must be pretty important," he said, becoming more awake at the news.
"Yeah, and I don't think it's good either." For some reason, I couldn't shake this bad feeling I was having.
"Probably not," Tucker agreed, getting up. It seemed he had enough energy to change last night; he was wearing grey sweatpants and an old white t-shirt "Where's Danny now?"
"Taking a shower," I said. "He didn't want Jazz to see him like that." I didn't elaborate on what I meant, knowing that Tucker knew exactly what I was talking about.
He nodded absently. "How is he?"
"He seems fine," I said, knowing Tucker was talking about Danny's injury. "He looks like he has healed mostly."
Tucker let out a sigh of relief.
The doorbell ringing caught both of our attentions. It was way under ten minutes, but it couldn't be anyone but Jazz.
Tucker was the first to the door with me right behind him. The red-head walked in the minute the door was open, her expression filled with worry. Her hands were gripped tight around her messenger bag. Her hair was drawn up into a messy bun, tendrils of hair left abandoned, framing her angular face; she was wearing a tan leather jacket, black shirt, and jeans with knee high dark brown riding boots, making her legs look even longer, completed with a dark blue scarf. Somehow, she looked even more like a scholar. Her usual greenish blue eyes seemed to be more blue today with the flecks of brown more noticeable.
Danny was walking down the stairs, pulling the shirt I gave him over his head, not noticing his sister. But, it was too late, she already saw the angry red of his chest and small cuts on it. But, compared to last night, it looked almost healed, although this didn't stop Jazz from rushing over to Danny, meeting him on the second to last step, raising up his shirt. "What happened?" She asked, her voice rising from its normal level.
"Ghost," Danny said, surprised to see his sister so soon. He shot Tucker and me a look, seeming to be asking us why we didn't warn him. I just shrugged while Tucker muffled a laugh at Jazz's antics.
Jazz shot Danny a hard look. "What. Ghost."
"Plasmius," Danny muttered, his tone apprehensive.
"At least it's not as bad as last night?" Tucker whispered next to me.
Jazz whipped her head around, glaring at Tucker, "What did you say?"
I saw Danny slap his forehead. "We're doomed," he muttered.
Jazz turned back at Danny; the fire in her eyes growing to the point where it looked like one of Danny's death glares. "Not as bad as last night?" she repeated. "You are going to tell me everything, now!"
She walked determinedly over to the living room, her steps so hard that I could hear them.
Giving each other confused looks, we all followed her, deciding that it was best not to give the eldest Fenton sibling any more reason to get angry.
She was standing in front of the sofa, which was still covered in blankets. She pointed at it with one firm motion.
We hurried to the couch. I sat on the far side and Tucker on the other, with Danny sitting in between us.
Jazz raised her eyebrow. "Well?"
Danny began to explain what happened. Every now and then, we would interject with our own details and opinions, leaving nothing out, telling her about the meeting in the park, the fight with Plasmius, Tucker finding out. By the time we were done, Jazz was staring dumbfounded at the three of us. It took a couple minutes until she finally said something. "This is officially the worst secret kept in history."
"Not the worst..." Danny said with a hint of a smile on his face, seeing that the storm was finally settling; and Jazz was beginning to calm down.
Jazz eyed Tucker. "Well, I'm happy that you were there, Tucker. And, thank you."
Tucker looked abashed, his cheeks turning darker.
"So what's happening at Fenton Works," Danny intervened on Tucker's behalf.
She sat down on the floor, crossing her legs in Indian style. The rest of us followed suit, the sofa too small for the three of us to be comfortable. We were sitting in a loose circle, eyes trained on Jazz, waiting for her to speak. "A whole unit of ghost hunters came this morning," she said. "Mom and Dad took them to the basement, and none of them has come up yet."
"Don't ghost hunters come all the time?" Tucker asked.
Jazz shook her head. "Not a whole unit of them. Usually only one or two come every now and then, if that even. Amity is our parents' jurisdiction, and they never call for back up. They only share it with the G.I.W."
"What's the difference?" I asked. "Between these ghost hunters and the G.I.W?"
"The G.I.W. are stationed in every major city of the United States; it's a government operation. They coordinate a lot with our parents," Danny explained. "But these ghost hunters are trained personally by Mom and Dad. They train them in units; there's only a couple of them though since the units are so big. These ghost hunters are more specialized and effective then the G.I.W. They're the guys that deal with the extreme ghost problems."
"And this unit is the more experienced," Jazz said. "There were definitely no beginners or second years."
"So, what do you think they're doing?" I asked.
"Could they be targeting Danny?" Jazz suggested, looking at her brother worryingly, biting her lip.
Tucker shook his head. "With that kind of fire power coming in, it can't be just for Danny."
"Tucker's right," I interjected, thinking about the mass amounts of ghosthunters coming in. "I don't think that's all for Danny either."
Danny nodded. He hadn't said a word yet. His eyes were focused intensely, having an unreadable expression. Everybody was staring at him, ready for him to come up with something plausible. Then, suddenly, his eyes widened; he drew in a sharp breath. "Vlad!"
Jazz gave him a funny look. "Uh, Danny, I don't think Vlad is even on their radar, let alone noticed enough to attract a whole army of ghosthunters' attention."
Danny shook his head. "No, it's something that Vlad said to me." He looked over at Tucker and me, "When he attacked the other day." I felt a shiver go down my spine at the mention of the gruesome fight. That was one guy I didn't want to see again.
I looked over at Jazz to see her expression angry at the mere mention of Vlad and the attack.
Danny dragged his bangs back with both hands, messing his unruly hair up even more. "God, it makes so much sense now.
"He said something small, the stupid fruitloop bragging his brains out. He said that the people that went missing were in the Ghost Zone. Taken there. I still don't really know why they were even kidnapped... I always just thought they-" he stopped, becoming pale.
We all knew what he was going to say. We all thought it ourselves: that the people taken by the ghosts were dead. But, apparently that was no longer true.
"So all of those people are really alive," Tucker said.
Danny nodded, "Being kept in the Ghost Zone."
"So what does this have to do with Mom and Dad?" Jazz asked, looking at all three of us.
"It means the Fentons are probably going to do something about it," Tucker said, saying what all three of us were thinking, starting to look uneasy.
"Think about it, Jazz," Danny said, giving his sister a deathly serious look. A look I was not used to seeing on his face. "Mom and Dad would never bring in that many ghosthunters unless it was for something big. They always went after ghosts themselves, so the only other thing I can think of is the Ghost Zone; going in there is the only thing that would make our parents cautious enough to take a whole unit of ghosthunters with them."
"They're planning a rescue mission," I clarified.
"Oh, no," Jazz said, her eyes widening, mouth agape.
Danny nodded, his expression just as frightened as hers. "I know." He looked down at his hands, not meeting any of our eyes. "They won't stand a chance."
I wanted to say there was a chance, a chance the ghosthunters could pull it off; but after seeing the fights Danny got in...I knew he was right. There was no way the mission would succeed.
"We have to stop them," Tucker said, the first to speak after the long tense silence.
"Do you know our parents?" Jazz said with hopeless dread in her voice. "There is no way they will back out now."
"Unless," Danny said, smiling for the first time since the conversation began.
"Oh no," I said, glaring at him. "I know that look. Hell no." I stood up so I was looking down over him. "No way on earth!"
Danny got up, meeting my eyes with a pleading expression. "But, Sam, this could work."
"What could work?" Tucker said, standing up as well, so that he was looking at us on the same level.
"This idiot wants to go in the Ghost Zone himself," I said, gesturing towards Danny.
"Hm," Tucker said, looking mainly at Danny. "That could work."
"Tucker!" I yelled, punching his arm hard.
"What?!" He exclaimed, rubbing his arm.
"See, he thinks it's a good idea," Danny said with a smirk.
"Because he's just as stupid as you," I retorted, putting my hands on my hips.
"Come on, Sam, think about it. If anybody could do it, Danny and we can," Tucker said.
"Yeah, and-" Danny stopped, looking at Tucker with a stunned look, "Wait a minute, did you say we?"
I thought about it. If Tucker and I were there, we could give Danny the back-up he needed. We could actually save those people. I smiled at Tucker. "Okay, I'm in."
"Alright!" Tucker said, doing a fist pump. "I knew you would be game, Sam."
"The only thing now is figuring out a plan," I said, already thinking about possible ways we could pull this off.
"I already have a couple of ideas," Tucker said, drawing closer in his excitement.
"Whoa!" Danny yelled, getting both of our attentions. I looked up at his face to see him glaring at the both of us. "There is no way you guys are coming. It's too dangerous."
I crossed my arms, giving him a glare of my own. "Oh, so it's not for you?"
"I-" Danny stopped, staring at me. "You know it's different."
"Danny, this is not a one man job, even if you do have ghost powers. We are talking about going into the Ghost Zone."
"Yeah, you are going to need back-up, man," Tucker said, putting a reassuring hand on Danny's shoulder.
"You're going to need help getting all those people out," I pressed, knowing that by mentioning it would help the people trapped, it would make Danny give in for sure.
He seemed to deflate, letting out a long breath, giving in either because he could see the reasoning or seeing that we were not going to let this go until we got what we wanted. Running a hand through his hair, he said, "Okay, so what's the plan?"
I smirked at him. He smiled back.
"All three of you are insane," Jazz said, getting to her feet. We all looked at her, suddenly realizing she was here in the room with us. "But, I know you guys are the only ones that have a real chance of pulling this off." I smiled at her, looking to the side to see Danny and Tucker mirroring my expression. Jazz's eyes suddenly narrowed. "But, don't you think one second that I'm just gonna sit here. I'm helping too."
"I wish there was a way we can have more information," Tucker said exasperatedly, running a hand across his face.
We have been going over ways to go into the Ghost Zone for hours, trying to come up with some strategy. We pressed Jazz for any information she had, like where the people were being held; but she didn't know anything. There were just too many blanks and missing pieces.
"I'm sorry guys," Jazz said, looking down. "I wish I could give you more details, but Mom and Dad are being really secretive about the whole thing."
"If only there was a way we can find out what they know," Danny said.
Tucker smirked. "Yeah, but that would take becoming one of the ghosthunters that work with them." Tucker laughed, "Could you imagine?
Danny laughed.
I was silent, suddenly caught by Tucker's words. I smiled. "Actually, that's not a bad idea."
"What?" Both boys said, staring at me with stunned, slightly scared expressions.
My smile grew wider; the plan was already starting to form in my mind. This could definitely work, now. Why didn't I think of this before? It was perfect.
"I really don't like the way she is smiling," Danny said to Tucker, still staring at me.
"Dude, you should never like it when Sam smiles," Tucker responded, his eyes still on me, his expression growing more scared by the minute.
"I have a plan," I declared after most of the details settled in my brain.
"We're doomed," Tucker said, frightened.
Danny could only nod in agreement, still staring at me.
I rolled my eyes at the boys' antics but continued on, ignoring them. "Danny, your dad did say that you could help them out whenever you want to. Well, we can all go to Fenton Works together saying that we want to help. You can tell them that you thought about his offer and want to help out with the cause. This way we can have access to the portal, and it would be easier to sneak in and rescue the people before the mission is scheduled."
The two boys stared at me for a long time.
I was beginning to think that they weren't going to go for it.
They both looked at each other and shrugged, which was really weird how well timed that was, by-the-way.
"Worth a try," Danny said. "Best idea we've had yet."
"The only problem is," Tucker interjected with a calculating expression on his face, "won't Danny be in danger with all the ghosthunters around."
I looked at Danny questioningly, also beginning to wonder the same.
He only shrugged. "I'm not too worried about the hunters. It's their detectors that I'm really worried about."
"But what if you're human?" I asked.
"Only really sensitive ones can pick me up," he said, his expression grew thoughtful. "But, I should be okay. The energy I give off is really low when I'm human. The most they would think is some ectoplasmic residue was in the room, and the alarms wouldn't go off for that. My parents work with that stuff all the time."
"So sounds like we have a plan," Tucker beamed.
"Yeah, a very dangerous one," Jazz piped up, her arms crossed in a disapproving way.
We all looked at her, realizing that she was still in the room with us. She was silent up until this point, probably seeing how we were going to work this out by ourselves.
She sighed, unhooking her arms, dropping her hands on her lap. "But, I don't see any other way we can do it."
"Awesome," Tucker said, sticking out his fisted hand in the middle of where we were all sitting. "Team Phantom is a go!"
Danny barked out a laugh but put his fist in the middle to join his friend's.
Jazz smiled and shook her head as if trying to convince herself this was all real, but she followed her brother, doing the same. The smile on her face growing.
They all looked expectantly at me. I rolled my eyes at Tucker. "You're getting way too into this." But, still, I couldn't deny the inevitable, I put my fist in the middle to join the others, completing the pact of Team Phantom.
Jazz left after a couple hours of strategizing and planning, saying that she needed to go finish up some homework before school tomorrow.
We were all sitting around the kitchen table, sodas in hand.
"The only thing is how are we going to convince them to let us help?" I said, finding the one flaw in the plan.
"What if we told them that we knew something about the people that were kidnapped?" Tucker prompted.
"That could work," Danny said.
"But what?" I said. "We can't tell them too much because they might suspect something."
"It could be something small," Tucker said. "We only need to get in on the mission, not try to convince them that we want to go too."
"Maybe we can just tell them that we overheard the kidnapped people are alive in the Ghost Zone," Danny said, his expression thoughtful. "We can say we heard a ghost talking about it during an attack. Because well, technically we did."
"That could work," I said, "that's something they already know and it gives us a good excuse to want to help."
"So tomorrow we will go see the Fentons," Tucker finalized.
"Yeah, tomorrow," I said, just as the front door opened.
"Tucker?" A female's voice said. I instantly recognized it as Mrs. Foley's.
"In here, Mom," Tucker called.
Two people walked in, Mr. And Mrs. Foley. Mrs. Foley was a petite woman with short black hair framing her dark brown face, with hazel green eyes just like Tucker's. Mr. Foley was only a couple inches taller than her-somehow Tucker was taller than both of them, almost matching Danny's height-he had a mustache and short cropped black hair, his eyes were a deep brown set in a kind face.
They smiled welcomingly at us.
"We're home," Mr. Foley said, walking over towards the other side of the kitchen to put down the suitcases and bags.
Mrs. Foley walked over towards Tucker, giving him a hug. She peered up at me, smile growing wider. "Hi, Sam, good to see you."
I smiled, "Hi, Mrs. Foley."
She looked over at Danny, smile still intact. "And who's this?"
Tucker beamed. "This is my friend, Danny."
"Hi," Danny said, looking a little shy all of the sudden.
"Nice to meet you, Danny," Mrs. Foley said. She looked over at Mr. Foley. "Maurice, come meet Danny!"
Mr. Foley walked over, placing the last of the bags down. He looked over at Danny, his smile broadening, "Hi, Danny, good to meet you."
He stuck out his hand; Danny shook it, and said, "Good to meet you too, sir."
"Will you two be staying for dinner?" Mrs. Foley asked. "We're planning just to order some pizza for tonight."
We both nodded.
"Is it okay if they stay for the night too?" Tucker asked.
"Of course, hun," she answered with a smile, already making her way over to the phone to order the pizza.
The rest of the evening was consumed with small talk, mainly Mrs. Foley wanting to know everything about Danny, and Danny giving very tentative responses but all the same the Foleys seemed to take a liking to him.
We were finally able to go up to bed after many goodnights exchanged with the Foleys.
I laid down on my usual spot on the floor, layers upon layers of quilts under me so that I couldn't feel the hardness of the floor at all. Danny laid down next to me with a sigh. He looked pretty beat, his eyelids already drooping.
"Do you really think our plan is going to work?" Tucker said with a yawn from his position on his bed. Even though I couldn't see him, I could tell he was worried from the tone of his voice.
"It will," I said, covering a yawn myself. "Tomorrow we will go to the Fentons after school."
"Let's just hope it doesn't go as well as yesterday," Tucker said sarcastically.
"I think it went pretty well," Danny said, having just as much sarcasm in his voice as Tucker.
"Will you two shut up? I'm trying to sleep," I said bitingly, but in actuality I didn't want to hear anything about yesterday or about tomorrow. I already had my own doubts, and I didn't want to have any more.
Putting away the last of my worries and forcing my brain to shut down, I fell asleep where even dreams wouldn't bother me.
We woke up the next day, bright and early unfortunately, to Tucker's alarm clock.
I groaned but got up. Danny looked blearily at me from his spot on the floor. He was still wrapped up in a wad of blankets, trying to shake off sleep. "Why are we getting up so early?"
I raised an eyebrow. "School."
Danny still looked confused.
"It's Monday," I clarified.
I looked over at Tucker to still see him half asleep, about to fall asleep again. I took my pillow from my makeshift bed and flung it at him. "Get up."
Tucker let out a loud groan. "No school."
I rolled my eyes, noticing that Tucker, despite his protest, was beginning to get up, mechanically getting ready.
Danny got up as well, pulling out a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, both supplied by Jazz (she was able to go and retrieve them from his house).
I grabbed my own set of clothes and walked to the bathroom to change.
I pulled on my black jeans, a dusty grey v-neck t-shirt, and my old soft leather, black jacket, putting on my black combat boots as a finishing touch. I shook out my hair, trying to smooth it down, but it remained in wild waves so I gave up, leaving the bathroom.
When I got back to Tucker's room, both boys were dressed. Tucker was in regular jeans paired with a dark blue hoodie and a dark brown jacket over it. Danny was pulling on a grey jacket. This confused me. "Where are you going?"
"To school," Danny answered, sounding as if this was normal.
Tucker looked at him, looking just as confused as I felt. "What?"
"I'm going to school with you guys," Danny said slowly, exaggerating each word.
"And why are you doing this?" I asked.
"More importantly why would you want to?" Tucker muttered, looking at Danny as if he was insane.
"Just because," Danny said, looking to the side. He could see that both of us were not going to let it go so he babbled on. "I talked to the school, and convinced them that I just wanted to be there as a temporary student. I told them I was home-schooled and was thinking about switching to a public school and just wanted to get the feel for it first before I decided."
"That's pretty impressive," Tucker said. "I can't believe they bought it."
Danny smiled at Tucker. "I know; I can't believe it worked. They are even willing to give me a temporary schedule and everything."
"Why are you coming with us, Danny?" I pressed, crossing my arms.
He looked uncomfortably at the both of us.
Tucker's expression turned more attentive, wanting to hear the answer just as much as me.
Danny heaved a sigh. "Vlad threatened you guys."
"I doubt he meant it," I said, not liking the fact that Danny wanted to play bodyguard.
"Look," he said becoming serious. "I know how Vlad is. I just want to make sure you guys are okay."
"Fine," I said grudgingly, knowing that it wasn't any use trying to convince him that we would be okay without him. When Danny went into full on protector mode, there really wasn't much you could do to convince him otherwise.
"Dude, this is gonna be so much fun," Tucker exclaimed, hooking his arm around Danny's shoulders.
Danny smiled, but I could tell there was a bit of uneasiness in his expression, probably because this will be the first time where he would be around so many people since the accident. I couldn't imagine how unnerving that must be.
"Well," I said, opening Tucker's bedroom door, "we better hurry because we're gonna be late."
We rushed past the kitchen, Tucker's mom calling after us to take some breakfast (she ordered us back in, forcing pieces of toast in our hands-which Danny gave to me the minute we were outside, a look of disgust on his face.)
We finally got to Casper High; luckily with a couple minutes to spare.
"Well, here it is," I said, as we walked through the entrance into the hallway, Tucker and I steering Danny towards our lockers since he obviously had no clue where to go.
"Somehow I pictured it differently," Danny said, looking at his surroundings, from the people crowding the hallways to the overly decorated posters.
"Why did you want to come here again?" Tucker asked jokingly.
But, Danny didn't seem to here him, staring at the group of teenagers a couple of feet in front of us. "Hey, I recognize them," he said.
I looked up to see who exactly he was referring to, and to my surprise, it was Paulina, Dash, and the rest of their group.
"You do?" I wasn't able to hide the surprise in my voice; I thought he didn't know anybody our age besides Tucker and me. I felt a pang of jealousy, but I beat it down.
"Yeah, especially that one," he pointed at Paulina.
"Paulina Sanchez," I growled, glaring at him; and the jealousy was back.
"Huh, I just called her Crazy Stalker Girl," he pointed in their direction with his thumb, smirking at me. "And, that's her band of stalkers."
I smiled, was he perfect or what. "Now, why did you name them that; I don't think the rest of the school would agree with you on those choice of words." I made sure I emphasized the word, rest.
He shrugged. "Well, I didn't know who the hell they were, but they showed up everywhere and was for a while, trying to talk to me and get pictures. Pauline-slash-Stalker Girl over there even tried to get a lock of my hair. They're creepy, kinda freaks me out."
Tucker and I laughed.
"I mean it's cool that they think I'm a hero and everything and that they know I'm not evil. But..." he drifted off, making a face as he scratched the back of his head.
"Finally, somebody sees the light," Tucker smiled.
"Tell me about it," I said, looking at Danny's crystal blue eyes.
He gave me one of his killer smiles, sending shivers of pleasure through me.
"Hey, Newbie!" a voice said, making us break eye contact to see Dash sauntering over to us with the whole A-crowd in tow.
"Is he talking to me?" Danny asked, confusion on his face.
"Yep, I think he is, dude," Tucker said, looking just as confused.
"You better run," I said, smirking at him.
"Where?" he asked, looking around as if he was really thinking about doing it.
I chuckled. By now, Dash was already closing in on us, his eyes fixed on Danny like the rest of the teenagers. It wasn't everyday Dash called out somebody unless it was for a beating...I looked at Danny. He was a couple inches taller than Dash, and he didn't exactly look like the bullied type, if you know what I mean.
I took another peak at Danny, looking at his lean, muscled arms and defined chest showing even though he had a jacket on. Nah, there was no way Danny was in trouble.
"So, what's your name, new kid?" Dash said, crossing his arms and looking Danny in the eyes with a smirk.
"Uh, Danny?" Danny said, still looking a bit confused; he looked to the side as if he was still considering running.
Dash stuck out his hand. "I'm Dash Baxter, quarter-back."
Danny shook his hand, with a smirk on his face. I could tell he was thinking something smart-ass to say.
"Hi, Dash Baxter, quarter-back," he said, still smirking in an amused sort of way. Yep I was right, what do you know.
Dash either didn't get it or ignored the jab. He was about to say something, but Paulina quickly intervened. "Hi, I'm Paulina." She gave him a look that normally had every guy falling for her head over heels, but Danny looked unaffected. In fact, he kinda looked scared.
"Hi," he said, very shortly, barely glancing at her. His expression was uneasy.
This only made my smile widen.
Paulina frowned momentarily at Danny, but the frown soon melted into another fake-ass smile. She put a dainty hand on his arm, leaning over towards him to close the distance. Her eyes were slitted in a provocative way. "Well, it's definitely nice meeting you; I can show you around. It would be my pleasure."
I clenched my hands into fists, ready to smack that shallow witch. I swear, the way she was looking at him-
"Sorry," Danny said, thankfully not looking sorry at all, "but Sam's got that covered." He looked over towards me; his expression clearly asking for help. My help. "Right, Sam?" he asked nervously.
I smiled brightly at him (and let me tell you that is definitely unusual for a goth), my expression filled with pride. I couldn't help but feel a little smug and flattered that he seemed to still have eyes for me. I haven't yet seen a guy not fall for Paulina the minute they laid eyes on her. It was refreshing to know that Danny was different. But, then again, he was very different from the other boys. "Yeah," I said, taking his hand confidently, in the process throwing Paulina's hand off of his arm with the motion. "It'd be my pleasure." I smiled, sarcastically matching Paulina's previous words, giving Paulina a single glance.
Before either Dash or Paulina could say anything more, Tucker quickly intervened, "Come on, we still need to go to the office and get your schedule and things."
"Right," Danny said quickly, pulling me towards the office with Tucker beside us.
But, I soon realized I didn't ever open my locker, forgetting my books. I let go of Danny's hand. Both boys looked questioningly back at me. "I still have to get my books, I'll catch up with you guys in a minute," I supplied before walking away with a wave.
I made it to my locker, grabbing my books and things, depositing them in my book-bag. By the time I got to the office, Tucker and Danny were already waiting for me, both of their attentions on a paper Danny was holding, which I assumed was his schedule.
I walked up, looking at the paper as well, but the first line caught me off guard. "Danny Smith?" I asked disbelievingly. I couldn't decide whether to scoff or laugh at them. "That is stupid."
"Hey, I helped him with that!" Tucker defended, looking very offended by what I just said.
"You two are completely hopeless," I said, rolling my eyes as we began to walk to our first class. Unfortunately, I wasn't in Danny's first period (Tucker was with him though), but we had the same fifth period. All three of us shared the same sixth period, which was gym with Teslaff, and fourth period, which was English with Mr. Lancer, and lunch.
"We put a lot of effort into this," Danny whined, giving me the puppy dog eyes.
"Yeah, I bet those were the most intense two minutes of your lives," I retorted, stopping in front of my class. "See you guys in fourth period."
I walked into my history class, leaving both boys unable to reply back.
Fortunately, our history teacher was out sick, and in her absence, a substitute was left, who basically just gave us a worksheet and told us to talk quietly. I finished the sheet in ten minutes and was left to my own devices, free of any work. I took out my notebook and began to doodle aimlessly.
Unfortunately, I was sitting right next to Paulina and her little group of cheerleaders. Unlike what the sub advised, they were not talking quietly.
"Did you see the major hotness of the new guy," Paulina said to the abundance of air-head girls stationed around her.
"I know, right!" Star chimed in. "Danny...even his name is hot. And, his eyes are gorgeous, I practically had goose-bumps just looking at them."
"And that hair," another girl said, "talk about sexy."
Paulina's eyes went dreamy, "I never liked the messy hair look, but he definitely pulls it off. It also helps with that beautiful face of his too."
All the girls went into a chorus of 'hmm-hmm's' and 'oh yeah's.' ...Uh I thought I was going to throw up...on them.
"And, did you see the way he looked at me!" Paulina said, making me freeze. "I swear we had a moment."
"Oh definitely, Paulina, I mean there is no way he can't like you," Star said, kissing up as usual.
I narrowed my eyes at them, thinking of the many torture methods I read about that I could practice on these idiots with pom-poms.
"It's only a matter of time." Paulina flipped her hair back, smiling.
"What about Danny Phantom, Paulina?" Star asked, smiling at the head cheerleader.
Paulina only smiled. "Well, who said I can't have both? They are both equally delicious."
"Really? I think I would choose the super powered hero. They are both hot, but Phantom is so powerful and sexy," A random girl said, her hand cupping the side of her face as she leaned on the desk with a far away look.
Another girl spoke, all dreamy eyed, "But, that new guy has this sort of bad boy thing about him, just as sexy as Phantom."
I would have laughed at the irony if I wasn't fighting the extreme urge to claw their eyes out.
"Oh, I can't decide!" Star exclaimed.
"Yeah, they both have to-die-for looks," a cheerleader said.
"I know," Star interjected, "Danny has those sizzling blue eyes and that jet black hair."
"While Phantom has those electric green eyes," a girl finished. "And, that snow-white hair; it's such a turn on."
"Makes him look even more out of this world," Paulina added dreamily.
By the time English with Mr. Lancer came around, I was already experiencing a headache. Paulina was in my third period class too along with Dash, and the conversations about Danny just got more and more ridiculous by the minute. Dash was wondering if Danny played football and discussing the positions he might play with the rest of his friends, and Paulina was wondering what Danny's school schedule was and whether or not she was in one of his classes. She was running through the possibilities with her friends and talking about strategies if he did so happen to be in one of her classes. I won't go into detail. I rather not relive those fifty annoying minutes I spent in between said groups.
When I finally got to the class, speed walking because I was running a bit late, I saw Tucker and Danny waiting outside of it for me. I smiled at them, starting to feel less on edge.
We walked into the class, talking about Danny's day so far. Apparently, Tucker and he had a bit of trouble in chemistry, first hour; one of them accidentally knocked over the buns-and-burner setting fire to the papers and some of the chemicals. Luckily, nothing disastrous happened, just a lot of smoke and a very disgruntled teacher. Although, both boys claimed it wasn't them, still arguing back and forth about how the other did it. By the time we made it to our seats in the back (Danny in the desk across from mine and Tucker sitting behind him), all of us were laughing, particularly at Danny and Tucker's impersonations of the teacher.
Mr. Lancer cleared his throat from the front, instantly silencing us in the back, although I could still here Tucker chuckling.
I looked around the class to see Paulina staring at us. I forgot she was in Lancer's class too, along with Star who was sitting in the desk right beside her. Two other cheerleaders were sitting behind them, all staring at us, but I couldn't tell if it was just at Danny or Tucker and me too.
"Class," Mr Lancer said, in his nearly dull voice, bringing everybody's attention to him in the front of the room. "As you can see, we have a new student among us," he looked down at the roll in his hands momentarily, "Danny Smith."
Danny cracked a smile at the teacher while Mr. Lancer nodded towards him. "I hope all of you will make him feel welcomed."
I heard a chorus of giggles from the other side of the room where Paulina was, but I ignored it.
Leaving at that, Mr. Lancer started his boring lesson about the elements of literature. I tried to take notes, but even I was starting to feel the monotoned lecture begin to lull me asleep, so instead I drew in the margins of my paper, taking down momentary notes that happened to break through.
Quicker then I expected, the bell rang for lunch. I looked over to see a barely awake Danny and Tucker playing some game on his concealed PDA.
The class began to pack, bringing the boys out of their daze as they followed suit.
"Finally. Lunch." Tucker said as we walked out of the room.
"I think I almost fell into a coma back there," Danny said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, Lancer can do that to you," Tucker provided, opening the door to the cafeteria.
We stood in line, each getting our food. The boys got the normal meat-filled lunch as I retrieved a salad from the salad bar.
We found a table off to the side, avoiding being in the middle of the cafeteria near people that could possibly hear our conversation. We figured it would be a good time to discuss exactly what we were going to do once we got to the Fentons after school, but before we could either take a bite of our food or say a word, Jazz was there, slamming her hands on the table, angrily looking at Danny.
Somehow, I got the feeling that Danny didn't exactly tell her what he decided to do today.
"What are you doing here?" Jazz hissed, her voice sounding accusing and harsh. She was glaring openly at her brother.
"I wanted to get a good public school education," he said innocently, but the smile on his face was far from innocent.
Jazz glared at the three of us. "If you three are up to something, you better forget it. The last thing I need is for you guys to get in trouble and me to have to bail you out."
"I thought you would be happy I wanted to go to school, Jazz," Danny said. "Now, we can do everything together."
Jazz rolled her eyes. "I doubt you are here for either learning or me, Danny. Don't forget, I am your sister."
"You remind me every day," Danny said exasperatedly. "Despite how many times I try to forget."
"Just stay out of trouble, please." She gave us another glare before leaving to join her friends.
"You know, you'd think she would have trusted you a bit more by now," Tucker barked out a laugh.
"Doubt it," Danny said, cracking a smile. "Jazz has always been a little protective."
"A little?" I scoffed. "I'm pretty sure she would have you under surveillance if she could."
Danny looked sideways at me, his expression slightly frightened. "Let's not even joke about that."
"Hey, Danny," Dash called, getting all three of our attentions. He was smiling broadly, but his smile didn't really look genuine. He was standing in front of our table with a tray of food in hand. "There's a seat over here with us." He motioned forward with his head at a table filled with the A-listers.
"No, thanks, Dash," Danny said, smiling apologetically. "I'm gonna sit here with Tucker and Sam."
At first he looked a bit taken aback, but then he seemed to make some kind of decision, putting on a determined expression. By now, the whole cafeteria was watching him along with us.
He leaned on the table with one hand supporting him, looking at Danny.
"You really shouldn't be hanging around with these losers, Danny," Dash sneered at us. I glared at him darkly, my hand curling into a tight fist. "Not if you want to be popular."
"I think I'm good, thanks," Danny said bitingly, glaring at Dash.
Dash looked surprised, but then straightened and scoffed, walking away from us.
"What is his problem?" Danny said, sounding annoyed.
"He's Dash Baxter, and he's used to getting everything he wants," I said, stabbing my salad.
"Also, you just turned him down in front of the whole school," Tucker said. "And that never happens."
Danny rolled his eyes. "You sound like it's a bad thing."
"Oh trust me, to him it is," Tucker said. "And, nobody wants to mess with Dash."
Danny glared over at the jock, his eyes momentarily flickering to green. "I hate bullies."
I took a bite of my salad, chewing thoughtfully. "We have something more important to worry about then Dash," I said. "I think instead of telling the Fentons we heard that the kidnapped people are trapped in the Ghost Zone from a random ghost, we should say we overheard it when Danny Phantom was fighting a ghost."
"Yeah, and if it ever comes down to Danny Phantom getting involved," Danny said with a thoughtful expression on his face, following my train of thought, "then it won't seem so weird that he knows all this information."
"This is gonna get really confusing if we keep talking about you in third person," Tucker pointed out, taking a bite out of his sloppy-Joe.
"I think this is pretty confusing already," Danny said. "I still have no clue what Vlad is playing at. I mean, I don't normally do, but this is all new levels of fruitloop that I haven't seen."
"Apparently, he's stepping his game up," I said, both boys looking at me questioningly. I clarified, "From what you told me, Danny, his past schemes have been only just focused on Amity and you, but now, this includes the Ghost Zone, kidnappings, the ghosthunter unit, and the Fentons. And who knows what else. It can't just be all a small scheme. I have a bad feeling it's something pretty big."
"Yeah," Danny said, flinging a bitten fry back in his plate. "I have the same feeling. And, trust me, Vlad being up to something is one thing, but this... I don't even want to think about what all of this means. I can't even guess what he's after now or even how much he is involved in, for all we know it could be other ghosts too."
"Didn't you say he worked with some ghosts already?" Tucker asked, starting to steal some of Danny's uneaten fries, his own tray already cleaned out of food. Danny didn't even seem to notice, too deep in thought. His eyebrows were scrunched up, shadowing his blue eyes as he stared at the table searchingly.
"Yeah," he answered. "I only know the ones that came after me though: Skulker, those vultures, and Fright Knight. I'm pretty sure he is working with some more, but he never let me meet them when I was with him."
"Hopefully your parents will have some answers," I said.
"Yeah," Danny said, although he didn't sound too reassured.
We got up, putting our trays away, and walking out into the hallway. Most of the student body was already there since we were pretty much the last ones to leave the cafeteria.
"Uh, what is Dash doing?" Danny asked, stopping to stare at the big crowd in the middle of the hall in front of us.
I looked to where Danny was referring to, instantly spotting Dash in the middle of the crowd. He was holding up a puny teenager against the lockers, his eyes wide behind in large glass, ginger hair sticking up in odd directions. The kid looked terrified as he stared down at the sneering football player.
"That's Mikey," Tucker said, glaring at Dash. "Dash's punching bag."
Danny began to walk up to the crowd; Tucker and I looked at each other, exchanging confused and slightly anxious looks, then followed him to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. After all, it was only half an hour ago when Jazz threatened us not to get into any trouble, and I really didn't want to see her even more angry and overprotective side.
Danny walked straight up to Dash, just as he was pulling back his fist to punch Mikey, but the motion was stopped by Danny's hand holding it back. "Wha?" Dash muttered, looking back at Danny confusedly.
"Let him go," Danny breathed, glaring at Dash.
Dash smiled scoffingly, and laughed. "What are you gonna do about it? Stop me?"
The other jocks in the crowd laughed, coming closer in to get a better look.
"This is stupid," Danny said. "Just let Mikey go."
Mikey was looking at Danny with shock; I couldn't tell if he was surprised that Danny knew his name or that somebody was standing up to Dash.
"Fine," Dash said, dropping Mikey. The boy got to his feet and scurried away from the jock, but remained in sight to watch what was going to happen.
"Then I'll just go for you!" Dash roared, swinging his other fist towards Danny's head, but Danny dodged it easily.
Dash lurched forward, looking very disgruntled and off-balanced from missing Danny.
"How did I know that was gonna happen?" Danny muttered tiredly, but I was close enough to hear him.
Dash was going to swing another punch again.
"Come on," I muttered to Tucker, taking his wrist.
I ran with Tucker in tow in front of Danny. Both of us blocking Dash from him.
"Dash, that's enough," I said, glaring at him.
Dash bristled but turned his attention over my head at Danny. "Oh, having your spooky girlfriend fight for you, Danny," Dash called out, glaring at Danny, then glaring at me. "Get out of my way, Manson." He grabbed my arm forcefully, but I didn't feel any pull.
Danny was glaring at Dash, his hand gripping hard on Dash's wrist. "Don't touch her."
Dash let go, either from the look Danny was giving him or from surprise, probably both.
"You're all a bunch of losers," he growled, giving Danny a very nasty look. "Especially you, freak."
Danny growled but didn't say anything.
"Come on," Dash motioned for his group of jocks, "Let's go. These losers aren't worth it." But, before he made if to the edge of the crowd, he half turned back, giving Danny a dark, menacing look. "You better watch out because now, you're on the top of my list."
The crowd dispersed as Dash followed by his friends walked through, all of them were whispering, giving us side glances as they began to hover away, but still remained near us to see what we were going to do next.
"We're going to be late for class," I said, dragging both boys away with me, not wanting to stick around any longer under the eyes of the nosy student body.
We were silent, walking towards fifth period. Danny was still fuming while Tucker made comments every now and then, trying to lighten the mood, but they fell short, both Danny and I not in the mood for humor. He soon gave up trying, telling us that he will see us in gym next period.
Finally, Danny broke the silence as we stopped in front of our intended class. "What class is this?"
"Ghost Education 101," I said, smiling for the first time since Dash. The irony was just too funny to ignore.
Danny seemed to think this too. He was trying not to smile, but that didn't stop the corners of his mouth from twitching up. "You've got to be kidding me."
I let out a laugh, which was shortly joined by his.
We walked into the class, but our smiles instantly disappeared when we saw Dash and Paulina accompanied by most of the A-list. They were all whispering in hushed tones, but when they saw us walk in, they glared openly at us. Paulina and her friends were mainly glaring at me while Dash and his were glaring at Danny.
"Guess I'm not going to be popular after all," Danny whispered with a smile as we took our seats in the back.
"Damn," I said with mocking disappointment, "there goes your chances of becoming homecoming king."
"My life is over," he said, trying to be serious but he couldn't hold in his laughter.
The late bell rang just as the teacher walked in. It was Mr. Lancer. It wasn't a surprise; usually the teachers had to switch off every one to two weeks because this class was mainly for the safety of students. A permanent teacher for Ghost Education 101 wasn't really high up on the priority list, especially since most that could teach it were fighting ghosts themselves. So, the teachers had to rely on a copy of the standard Ghost Education 101 textbook and issued notes/lessons from the G.I.W.
"Okay, class," Mr. Lancer started off, giving a stern look at Dash and Paulina to stop talking. "We will be discussing the power levels of ghosts and how dangerous each one is. Examples will be given, and this will be on the test next week so I stress the importance of paying attention today."
Mr. Lancer pulled down the screen and turned on the projector with the remote controller in his hand. He flipped off the lights.
A blue ghost with overalls and a hat was on the screen. His hands were raised up in a comical sort of way that was meant to look menacing, his red eyes wide, mouth open as if saying something. He was pudgy and short and really didn't look that impressive at all.
"This is the Box Ghost," Mr. Lancer said, his voice grim. "He is a lower leveled ghost, but still is dangerous. His powers seem to have something to do with control over boxes. But, word of caution, this ghost is one of the most frequently sighted in Amity and remains to be dangerous to its citizens."
Danny snorted next to me. I looked over to see him struggling to stifle his laughter with both hands covering his mouth, his eyes bulging with amusement.
Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow at him. "Is something amusing you, Mr. Smith."
It took Danny a second to realize that Mr. Lancer was referring to him. He coughed a couple times, trying to swallow his laughter, but his grin remained intact, although he was struggling to get his expression under control. "No, sir. That ghost is very dangerous." His voice cracked at the end, his smile widening although he concealed it with his hand.
Mr. Lancer gave him a look, but continued on with the lesson.
I gave Danny a look of my own, deciding whether or not to smack some sense into him but decided not to.
The picture on the screen changed. Now, this time I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing.
The picture was Danny in his ghost form. He was looking back at the camera, looking very confused, probably surprised to see somebody taking a picture of him. His white hair was all mussed up, sticking up in odd directions with some dirt in it. His suit was torn in a couple of places. He looked like he just got done with a fight.
At seeing this, the whole class started whispering. Mostly all the school supported Danny Phantom. It wasn't even an odd sight to see a couple of people walking around with his insignia on their shirts (it was worn once every week by the A-listers).
Danny's muffled chuckles stopped immediately. His hand falling limp and his eyes wide with surprise. He actually matched his ghost self's expression in the picture.
"As you know, this ghost is Danny Phantom," Mr. Lancer said, his voice surprisingly somewhat animated. "He is a high leveled ghost and is one of the most wanted on the G.I.W.'s list. There is not an exact number given for his power range because it keeps growing. This is one of the main concerns of the Fentons and ghosthunters, considering no other ghost they encountered has ever grown in power without the help of a ghostly artifact."
Nobody was talking now, too immersed in what Lancer was saying. He continued on. "Phantom poses as an anomaly. The ghosthunters do not know how to explain any of the reasons why Phantom is so different from other ghosts.
"Now, I know what you are probably going to ask,"' Mr. Lancer said, looking over at us. "What are the differences? For one thing, his appearance has changed over the years. The first year he arrived in Amity, he looked to be between the ages of thirteen and fourteen, having the similar body type and maturity level, but over the years, the hunters have noticed changes. He grew taller, his body shape changing over time; his mental process seemed to even grow, matching the growing rate of an average human. He looks to be about seventeen now. The hunters also noticed that his growth rate seemed to match the pattern of his power growth.
"Another difference is Phantom shows more of an emotional range then ghosts normally have. He is documented showing various kinds of emotions in the same patterns as you and I would experience and show.
"He shows only when another ghost is attacking the city and only fights said ghost, leaving straight after. There never as been an instance where he has attacked a human, but this ghost is still dangerous. We do not know why he is protecting Amity from other ghosts. The ghosthunters believe he is doing it for territory while other experts and people alike believe him to be as some sort of hero."
"I think he's a hero," someone spoke up.
I looked around to see it was Dash.
He was smiling broadly, looking at Mr. Lancer with absolute confidence.
"And why might you think that, Mr. Baxter," Mr. Lancer questioned, he always liked it when the student engaged, and he never missed an opportunity to help the student engage further in the discussion.
"Well, you said so yourself, Mr. Lancer," Dash said with a shrug. "He has never attacked a human. He even saved a lot of people too."
"Yeah," someone else spoke up. It was a girl I didn't know the name of. She had ginger hair and big round glasses. "He saved my mom one time from that technology ghost."
"He also saved my little brother," Star spoke up. "He still talks about it."
"And, I'm pretty sure he is the one that beat that Ghost King," Paulina said. Loud murmurs of agreement echoed throughout the class.
"He could just be defending his territory," Mr. Lancer put in, challenging the students. "Many ghosts are territorial of both the land and the people living on it."
"Yeah, they are," Mikey agreed. Everybody stared him. He continued quickly, "But don't you think Phantom would only be worried about the ghosts? He saved a lot of people from normal stuff, like from houses on fire and burglaries. No territorial ghost has ever been reported settling human problems like that. They only cared about the other ghosts coming in."
"Very interesting point," Mr. Lancer said, giving in. "There is also the other theory some ghosthunters believe, that Phantom is merely just trying to lull us into a sense of security, waiting until the moment is right to strike."
I scowled, speaking up the first time since class started. "Don't you think he would have attacked sooner if it were that. That's a stupid theory. Why would he put himself in between other ghosts and us just to get our trust? He doesn't exactly come out intact every time."
Everybody was whispering there agreements, even Dash and Paulina were nodding their heads, but in a grudgingly way.
I looked over at Danny, his eyes were wide, staring at me.
I gave him an apologetic look; that time I really couldn't control myself. I hated hearing all this crap about how he was just another evil ghost with a plan to take over the world. It pissed me off because he did so much for this city and they just assumed he had some hidden agenda. So I guess I wasn't really too sorry about speaking up. Besides, it wasn't like I gave anything away, it was a known fact that Danny Phantom had to endure some pretty hard blows in battle, they were always played over and over on the news (yes, I started paying attention more ever since I knew Danny's secret, how else was I supposed to know that he was okay? Sure as hell, he wouldn't tell me what really happened).
"Another good point made by Miss. Manson," Mr. Lancer said. "I guess only time will tell Phantom's true intentions. Let's continue on, shall we?"
The rest of the class consisted of Lancer showing ghosts of various power levels and him going over their powers and past attempts to conquer the human world. Danny's ghost form was seen in a lot of those pictures, fighting the ghosts shown.
I noticed Danny stayed quiet throughout the whole class, although he would snort every now and then at a comment Mr. Lancer would make about a certain ghost, no doubt whatever he said was amusingly wrong.
We finally got done just as the bell rang.
Danny and I packed up our things, being the last to walk out the room.
"Well," I said, breaking the silence. "That was interesting."
Danny snorted a laugh, then looked at me, seeming to break away from whatever thoughts he was entertaining. "Yeah, it's not everyday I go to a class about myself."
"It wasn't all about you," I said. "Believe or not, you are not the center of the universe."
"I choose to not believe that," he said, his hand taking mine.
Just as I was about to say something, Danny stopped, gasping. I saw his breath become visible; he shivered slightly.
He groaned, looking around the crowded hallways. "You've got to be kidding me."
"A ghost?" I asked, looking around me, but trying to be discreet about it.
"Yeah," Danny said. "I'll catch up with you in class. This should only be a minute."
"I can help," I said, but he was already moving speedily down the hall, weaving in and out of the crowd.
I growled, but did as he said, walking to class. But, I still kept feeling my stomach twist into knots.
By the time I got to gym, I was already making a silent promise to myself to never let Danny go alone again. I didn't care what he said; I was going to help next time even if I had to follow him.
I dressed out quickly, but Tucker was already standing in the gym when I came out of the girls locker room, looking at the direction I was coming from, obviously waiting for me. "Where's Danny?" he said in a hushed tone so that nobody would hear.
"Ghost," I answered, being careful to not let my voice come out as more than a whisper.
Tucker's eyes bulged. "And you let him go alone?"
"He ran off before I could even offer to help," I said, still fuming a bit at Danny leaving so quickly.
Tucker raised an eyebrow at me. I knew what he was thinking, that I shouldn't have let him go so easily. I had to admit it was something that I didn't normally do.
"Alright, line up!" Coach Testlaff all but screamed, making both Tucker and I jump in the already forming line.
We kept peering around the people, looking for any sign of Danny.
I heard my name being called for roll; I answered distractedly, seeing Danny running into the gym.
He joined Tucker and me quickly, looking a bit out of breath as if he just got done sprinting here, which was probably true. His hair was messy, looking a little more wind-blown than usual.
"You're late," Testlaff said, glaring menacingly at Danny, which I can say looked pretty menacing. Testlaff wasn't exactly your average looking female, let's just keep it like that.
"Sorry, sir," Danny answered.
"Uh, Danny, she's a woman," I whispered, eyeing Testlaff's overly muscled body and male-like features. I had to admit that if it wasn't for the eye make-up, I would have assumed the same thing Danny did.
Danny's eyes widened in a surprised way, giving Testlaff another look. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," I said, noticing how Testlaff was glaring at us. "I'm sure."
"Oh," Danny said simply. "Wow."
"You guys, shut up," Tucker said, nudging Danny in the arm.
Testlaff was still glowering at us, becoming red in the face.
We both stopped talking immediately.
"Guys, I don't know if we are going to survive this period," Tucker stage-whispered, peering at Testlaff as she glared at us, cracking her knuckles.
"On the bright side," Danny said, looking just as unsure as Tucker, "at least we won't have to worry about Vlad anymore. Or Dash. Or my parents. Or you know, the whole impending doom thing that I'm sure is going to happen since Vlad is involved and all."
"Danny," I said, looking at a very angry Testlaff.
"What?" he asked, stopping his rambling momentarily.
"Shut up."
A/N: 29 pages! Okay, so this is a... okay chapter. For some reason, it was so hard to write this out... so yeah, the writing probably sucks.
Anyways, thanks for all the reviews you guys! Wow, seriously, you guys are awesome, I wasn't able to get to all of you, mainly because I've been so busy with school (I had to remember 206 bones and 63 muscles so far in the last two weeks), soccer (I'm going to Oklahoma and Arkansas for games this week) and the newspaper (which I just joined, ahhh, look at me being all involved in school). So yeah, heh-heh. I am going to update a chapter in Dangerous Trust first (which will be the final chapter) then, I will write the next for this story. They will probably be coming soon since I'm going to be stuck on the bus this weekend for I don't know how long... 20 hours maybe... I don't know: A REALLY LONG time. Haha, well, anyway, thanks again for all the reviews; they keep me motivated.